Photo: 14 Watson Rd. sold for nearly a quarter of million dollars over its assessed value.

A weekly recap of residential properties sold in the past seven-plus days in the “Town of Homes:

• 140 Watson Rd., Brick Colonial (1940). Sold: $1,020,000. Listed at $1,050,000,. Living area: 2,277 sq.-ft. 8 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 57 days.

• 31 Amherst Rd., Two-level ranch (1954). Sold: $1,025,000. Listed at $1,125,000. Living area: 2,347 sq.-ft. 6 rooms, 4 bedrooms, 3 baths. On the market: 117 days.

• 18 Lodge Rd., English Tudor Colonial (1935). Sold: $710,000. Listed at $755,000. Living area:  1,783 sq.-ft. 7 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths. On the market: 93 days.

• 4 Waterhouse Rd., Center-entrance Colonial (1938). Sold: $685,750. Listed at $850,000. Living area: 1,742 sq.-ft. 7 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths. On the market: 79 days.

• 29 Cowdin St., Colonial (1940). Sold: $724,000. Listed at $749,000. Living area: 1,708  sq.-ft. 6 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths. On the market: 93 days.

• 206 School St., Single family (1925). Sold: $1,098,000. Listed at $1,098,000. Living area: 2,805 sq.-ft. 9 rooms, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. On the market: 86 days.

• 200 Rutledge Rd., Garrison Colonial (1940). Sold: $1,580,000. Listed at $1,795,000,. Living area: 3,608 sq.-ft. 13 rooms, 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths. On the market: 93 days.

A million dollar house on Rutledge? Of course! How about in the shadow of the Temple on Amherst Road? You bet. Even along School Street, where the production of “This Old House” came to visit, makes sense to see a price tag for a cool million. 

But Watson Road? The road off of Washington below the Presidential neighborhood is typical of many Belmont side-streets, one of homes built in the same style as their neighbors; sturdy but far from fancy. 

And 140 Watson is just that: the town rates it as a B grade house – heated by oil with an unfinished attic – with its last significant renovation was the installation of replacement windows a decade ago. 

The town’s assessors did bump up its assessed value in the past year, to a whopping $784,000. 

Somehow, this “average” house oversold its assessed value by nearly a quarter of a million dollars! Maybe the buyers misheard an important fact: it’s heating is oil not that there is oil in the basement, a la “The Beverly Hillbillies.”

The fact that an average house could sell for a fat premium should give people pause, during which time they can recall the last few housing financial “bubbles” and their impact on the community and town finances.